Fallen Angel
by Sanosukesgirl
Summary: A girl named Anzu has to protect a boy from suffering the same way she has...


Fallen Angel

Written by: Danielle J. Nelson

CHAPTER 1

The vast sky opened into a world of blue darkness and nothingness. A girl's eyes gazed into the night sky and looked within the possessed dark to find the brightest thing of all. She looked up at the moon to see the night fade away into a swirl of light. The warm night sky brushed up against her as her hair slowly flowed with it. Next to her she picked a jade flower, she rested it on her palm as the wind pulled it away from her. It flowed silently down to a small puddle of water west of the girl's hand. The girl watched the ripples from the flower vibrating through the water. She gazed into the puddle, her reflection blurred as in the distance her name was being called. "Anzu, where are you it's time for dinner. ANZU!" A women's mellow voice called out to the girl. Anzu put her left hand behind her and pushed with little force to get herself to her feet. Anzu turned and started walking toward the house where she lived with her mother and her little brother Jae. Her mother noticed a shadowed figure slowly coming toward the house; she smiled, and then went inside. As Anzu got closer to the house she could smell the delicious scent coming from the food. 

She walked in closing the screen door silently behind her. The television was on with the shows Jae usually watched for entertainment, the exact opposite of what Anzu watched. She sat down on the couch three spaces away from her stiff eyed brother. His eyes were locked on to the screen; his mouth hung open slightly, and gawked at his interest in action and violent cartoons. Anzu was different from her brother; she liked love, fantasy, and drama. Anzu was that kind of person, she could feel for someone's own problems even though they weren't her own. She liked to look up to her mother, all the work she's done to keep the family together, to provide for them. Anzu's mother could overcome all obstacles if she wanted to, the only thing she couldn't do was to keep Anzu's dad from leaving. 

It was a cool mid-Autumn day; the sun was just rising over the sea's horizon. Anzu got up to get a cold glass of ice water, it was ten days until her ninth birthday and her brother was barely four year old. Anzu was walking down the hall when she hears her mother crying silently. She turned slowly to enter the kitchen and saw her mother and father standing there motionless. 

Her mother shoved her hands away from her face, "Why? Why are you leaving us! Don't do this, not to me, not to the children!" a spot on her mother's nightgown was soaked in tears. Anzu's dad was strictly silent, then he spoke, "I... uh... I know I should stay but I want to do something more with my life. I want to finish collage and become a doctor or a lawyer, it's been my goal for a while." He calmly spoke in the soft voice he sang Anzu to sleep with every night. Her mother looked at her husband wide eyed and shocked, "That's the reason why your leaving us, to go follow your stupid goal and go to a different country just to study for a better job! That's no reason at all!" Anzu's mother moved her hand right to show her emotions in a strong manner. Her husband's expression backed away from his wife's fury. Anzu peered around the wall she was leaning against. Anzu's father said, "I'll give you money each month so you can take care of the children while I'm gone." His voice seemed small. Her mother held her hand close to her face, " I... I still need a better reason to understand why..." Anzu's father cut her mother off, " you'll never understand." and with that, her father walked out the door, started the car and drove down the dirt road.

Anzu ran into her bedroom right to her window, she could see the small red car drive down the desolate road. Anzu's mother ran into the front lawn called out to the man she once loved, "COME BACK, I NEED YOU! We need you." she stuck out her hand a though to catch something in front of her. She yelled to the rising sun while tears strung down her hot cheeks as she dropped to her knees. Anzu rested her head on the windowsill, her tears falling to the floor. She slowly walked to her bed, still crying as she laid down on her pillow. That morning Anzu cried herself to sleep knowing that her father was likely to not return. 

Then without warning five years later they received a letter addressed to the family of Mr. Konakimwa, it read:

_We at Gento Hospital are sorry to announce that Hansu Konakimwa is no longer with us. We are very sorry for your loss. Mr. Konakimwa was in a fatal accident the night of April 10 and was under our care for a very long time because of a mortal wound. He died on May 7 at approximately 9:28 am while he was asleep. We got his will two days after his death and it said that you would receive his life's savings and other belongings. We will update you soon. Best wishes._

- Gento Hospital

That day no one ate anything or talked to anyone, that day was a day of mourning, a day of sorrow. Anzu's mother locked herself in her room for three days after the letter; her hopes and dreams of seeing him again were washed away in a few seconds. It's been three years since that horrible letter, which scarred their memories forever.

Anzu came to her senses when her mother called to her and Jae to the table for dinner. Anzu shuddered at the memory of the letter; she didn't want to believe what the letter said but her father never returned after those long hard eight years. Anzu pushed herself up and headed toward the dining room table. She could smell the tenderness in the beef and the herbs to make it taste just right. There were melt-in-your-mouth mashed potatoes; freshly cut melon and vegetables with a slab of butter on top. Anzu helped her mother set the rest of the table. Jae just sat there still in the zombie gaze he was in earlier when the television was on. Anzu and her mother both sat down on two empty chairs on opposite sides of the table. Every time the family sat together since they got the letter, it hasn't been the same. 

Anzu always missed her fathers face, his voice; she can hardly remember anything about him. "Mother," Anzu said as she took a bite of beef, "I want to remember something." she took another bite. Her mother looked up in wonder. Anzu continued, " I want to remember what dad looked like." Anzu's eye's burned into her mothers; Anzu could see the frustration in her mother's eyes. But then her mother broke contact, " you know we don't talk about that anymore, Anzu." her mother looked down at her food in discomfort. Anzu was annoyed by her mothers answer, "but I..." her mother cut her off, " no buts I said we don't talk about that anymore!" anger of not knowing was building in Anzu, "you never tell Jae or me anything anymore about dad, why he left, or anything related to that. I hate you, I wouldn't be surprised if you stopped talking to us at all!" Anzu jumped up and her chair fell to with a loud crash, splitting the edge of it loose. She ran upstairs to her room and locked the door. She leaned against it with her arms crossed looking for somewhere she could cool off alone. Her window was open and decided to spend time enjoying the night sky. 

She put on a light jacket and climbed through. The air was still warm and she had an excellent view of the lake about a mile from her home. The sky was almost pitch black except from the light the moon that set off in rays. Anzu watched the moonlight shine on the ripples in the water moving slowly toward the shallow water. She smiled as a calm feeling came over her, " The lake is so beautiful at night. The moon as bright as it is now, the water as clear as it could be. How beautiful." Anzu said softly to herself. For Anzu, night was the best time to cool off after acting stupid or angry, she also saw night as a place to escape away from her own mind and feelings. She loved to go outside to solve problems or things that are troubling her. Anzu cooled down and decided to go back into her room. 

She got up and turned around, but then fell to her side in pain; apparently she had twisted her ankle on a loose plank. The pain wasn't too bad; Anzu shed a few tears and continued to climb to her window. Before Anzu completely climbed through the window she heard her mothers voice, " ANZU! ANZU! GET YOUR BROTHER OUT OF THE HOUSE! HURRY IT'S SPREADING QUICK! THERE'S A FIRE! " Her mothers voice was harsh and demanding. Anzu's eyes widened in fear, _what?!_ She looked from under Jae's room. Thick black smoke was rising from towering flames spitting from the kitchen window. _Hurry it's spreading quick!_ She remembered her mother's words, " JAE!" The fire was smoldering as the embers shot out from the window underneath. Anzu ran over to Jae's window and looked, she saw her brother trying to open the window while his room was filling with smoke. She tried helping him unlatch the window but her brother fell to his knees in a silent cough. Anzu noticed her brother weakening, "JAE! COME ON JAE! WAKE UP!" Anzu ran into her room, it was not quite filled with smoke, thanks to the fact that her window was open. She put her arm in front of her face to avoid the smoldering smoke, and then with bravery, she climbed in. She franticly looked around for something to break the window with. Behind her desk there was her most prized position, the wooden bat her father gave her when she was only seven. 

Her lungs were heavy from the smoke, but the thought of her brother dying was worse. She walked over to the bat and gripped it with her right hand. She turned around to exit her room and used the bat like a walking stick, then she slowly climbed out the window. Again she rushed over to the sealed room were her brother could surely die. With tears of worry running down her face she swung the bat as hard as she could, the glass shattering under the bat's heavy blow. Most of the smoke escaped through the once sealed window, they came out like rolling stones, forcing Anzu to back away. She threw the bat away, watching it as it fell to the ground. Jae's room had thicker smoke; Anzu took off her jacket and covered her nose and mouth. She carefully climbed through the window trying to avoid the broken glass. She ran over to her brother, " JAE! WAKE UP! PLEASE! please," Anzu realized her brother was unconscious from the smoke, by the expression on his face. 

Anzu was determined to get Jae and herself away from the scorching heat. Embers set fire to some papers and clothes strung about the room. Anzu kept her brother close to herself to prevent him from getting any burns. The fire got closer and closer as Anzu drew nearer towards the window. She carefully set Jae down on the roof outside his room gently. Anzu was barely out of the room when she heard an unusual cracking sound. She slowly turned around; the room seemed to be caving in at the center. She turned back to the window, but a burst of flames took her aback. As she stepped back from the fright, she tripped over a small toy. And landed on her left side, she aced all over her body. The flames surrounded her; they were closing in on her. 

Anzu watched in horror as the flames got near, "I know I shouldn't think this, but. I'm going to die." as Anzu said those words she tried to sit up but fell over coughing and crying in pain. The wood below her started giving way, piece by piece. Everything for Anzu was silent, the fire seemed to only simmer, and the burning house seemed to stand still. A plank of wood from the ceiling gave way and fell straight toward Anzu, crashing right on her hip. The floor around her finally gave way as Anzu went tumbling toward the burning room below. She went head first in to the hard tile, as everything went into darkness. Just like the nothingness of the blue sky, but this time Anzu couldn't find the brightest thing of all, at all. 


End file.
